


Ninjago: The Assassin

by InWayoftheWind



Series: Ashes [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Female Protagonist, Mild Language, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InWayoftheWind/pseuds/InWayoftheWind
Summary: Ash has been separated from her father for years, and she's finally given the chance to find him, but with one terrible condition. And it's only a matter of time before her new friends discover her dark secret.[An AU of sorts with original characters and plot. Later works will follow (for the most part) series canon]Updates every Monday + Tuesday





	1. The Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for reading! This particular work was previously on Fanfiction.net under my other pseudonym, Fell-and-Fallen, and I have since decided to rewrite the entire series and post it again here. You are more than welcome to find the other version that still exists, but this one will feature several changes in plot, continuity, and names. I do not claim to own any characters that are not mine, and my original characters should be very easy to spot. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy!

 

“Is this where you’ve been all this time?”

My heart stops. In a split second, I’ve put my back to a tree, a quick hand tugging a blade from my belt and holding it defensively out in front of me. A dark shape greets me from the fragmented light of the forest, and it takes all my power to still my suddenly pounding heart.

The figure is a tall man whose face is shrouded by a thick black hood. He wears dark fighting garb like mine, and the line of sunlight that crosses his face shows an unnerving smile. My hand tightens on my blade.

“What, are you surprised to see me?” he says with a tip of his head to one side. He sounds young and doesn’t appear to be armed, but my hands don’t waver. “I guess you don’t see many other people out alone in the middle of the woods like this. When’s the last time you’ve run into another person?”

“That’s none of your business,” I say in a growl, my voice strong despite the pounding in my ears. “Who are you and why are you here?”

“I’m a friend,” he answers with a step toward me. He stops as my knife moves toward the center of his throat. “Just a friend here to make you an offer.”

“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.”

He laughs softly, deep in his chest. “You haven’t even heard what I’ve had to say yet.”

“I don’t need to. If you knew where to find me, you can’t be good news,” I press my blade further into the skin of his throat. “Did someone send you here to finish me off?”

The stranger laughs again. “No. I told you, I’m a friend. I’m here to get you out of here and help you find what you’ve been looking for. All in exchange for a simple, quick favor.”

What I’ve been looking for? My grip tightens. “I think I know what your favor is, and I’m sorry. I don’t that sort of thing, especially for creeps in the middle of the woods.”

“Not even for information of your father’s whereabouts?”

My heart stutters. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you do. The two have you been separated for what, two years now? Three? That’s an awful long time to spend apart. If I were you, I’d be desperate for any bit of information I could get-”

“Stop talking,” I snap. “You don’t know anything about my father. Whatever you think you’re offering me, I’m not buying. My father’s dead, okay? He’s gone. End of story. You can take your favor and shove it up your-”

“I can prove it.”

The world tilts and I feel like I’m choking on air. “No, you can’t.”

My voice is broken and unconvincing, and it broadens the smirk on the stranger’s face. “Do I have your ears now?

I can feel my arm waver, as if it were suddenly made of lead. My father, a man I haven’t seen in years, a face I still remember in burning clarity. A dark caring gaze, a warm smile that never failed to spread. My heart beats unevenly in my chest and I really, truly feel like I’m quietly suffocating as I hold back the powerful wave of emotion that’s suddenly grabbed hold of me. I’ve been searching for years. I’ve accepted what must be the truth. What could this stranger possibly know that I haven’t been able to find?

I swallow what feels like broken glass. “Tell me everything. Now.”

“As soon as you sheath your blade,” the stranger says with a glance of shaded eyes down at the knife that scrapes his throat. “This is a conversation between friends, after all, and it’s a little hard to talk with your knife about to slice my throat.”

My stomach fills with an uncomfortable heat as I roughly sheath my weapon. I keep my fingers close to its hilt. “Fine. Speak.”

“Living on your own really did a number on your manners, didn’t it?”

“I said speak,” I growl with a clench of my hands. “What do you know about my father? How do you even know about him? Or me?”

The stranger shrugs. “I have my ways. What’s important is that I’m willing to share it for a small price.”

My jaw tightens. “And what would that be, exactly?”

He grins unnervingly as he stalks to my side. I turn to face him again, my hand brushing against my blade. “Nothing of real consequence to you. Just a personal vendetta that I think your skills would be particularly good at handling.”

“What is it?”

“Interested?” his grin widens.

“Stop playing games,” my grip finds my knife. “Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.”

“Dangerous words,” the stranger says. “What I want you to do, my friend, is... take care of a few people for me. Cut them out of the equation and I can reunite you with your father.”

“You want me to kill someone?”

“Multiple someones. Complete strangers,” he shrugs, like he just asked me to pick up his laundry. “Should be very easy for someone of your skill.”

My chest feels tight. “If it were so easy, why wouldn’t you do it yourself?”

“I have a vested interest in having this done quickly and quietly. Unfortunately, I lack your experience,” the corner of his lips turn up in a smile. “I’m lousy in a fight, and they’d see me coming from a mile away. But you, you’ll slip in right under their radar.”

He stalks closer, and I have to fight not to take a step back. “And isn’t your father worth more than them? The man who raised you and loved you over a few strangers who have been causing me a world of trouble?”

“How do I even know you’re telling the truth?” I ask through clenched teeth. “What proof do you even have that my father is alive?”

“Plenty.”

The stranger reaches into a pouch at his waist and I tug my knife out of its sheath. But instead of a weapon he pulls out a chain weighed with a single pendant. I feel my heart stop.

“That’s-”

“Your father’s,” the stranger holds it out to me with another of his smiles. “Never went a day without it, did he?”

I snatch it from his hand and hold it up in front of my eyes. The weight of the chain is all too familiar in my grip, and the dangling pendant shaped like a gold sun swings and dazzles in the sunlight. I’ve completely forgotten how to breathe.

I lift my face to meet the stranger’s eyes, but my gaze only meets the darkness beneath his hood. “How do I know you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?”

“I thought that might convince you,” he chuckles. “You have my word that once this is all over I’ll lead you to your father.”

“That’s not good enough. You’re asking me to kill someone and all you have to offer is your word?”

“This is all an exercise in trust, isn’t it?” the stranger says. “I’m trusting you to get this job done and in return you have to trust that I’ll hold true to my promise. The ones I’m sending you after aren’t exactly defenseless citizens. They’re warriors in their own right. If you mess this up, I might never get another chance to be rid of them again.”

My hands tighten.

“I understand this is difficult for you, but I’m really not your enemy here,” he continues. “I would love to see you reunited with you father, but these people have been a thorn in my side for way too long. Once you fulfill your side, I promise you I will take you to him. Just imagine it.”

His voice lowers to a purr. “All of this can be over with. No more running and hiding, no more looking over your shoulder for someone to come along and pay you back for what you’ve done. Just a happy life back with your father. All you have to do is end a few lives.”

I close my eyes and try to slow my pounding heart. It’s been almost four years since I’ve last seen my father, but I haven’t forgotten a single detail of his face, the sound of his laugh and the press of his lips against my forehead. The way my name slipped from his mouth like a quiet lullaby. I’d do anything to have him back, but killing people?

“I don’t know,” I whisper with another glance at my father’s necklace, which swings almost hypnotically from my grasp. “I don’t know that I can do this. I’m not… I’m not a murderer. My father…”

My grip tightens, and the swinging stops. “My father wouldn’t want this.”

“Perhaps not,” the stranger shrugs. “But his opinion won’t really matter if he’s dead.”

My eyes fly up to the darkness of the stranger’s hood. “What?”

“Didn’t I mention that?” he says with a glance at his neatly-trimmed nails. His hands are ripe with callouses. “If you don’t do this for me, your father is dead.”

I raise my knife. “You never said-”

“I’m giving you a choice here,” dark grey eyes glisten from beneath his hood. “One way or the other, these people need to be eliminated and I need to be rid of your father. If you turn your back on this, I’ll find someone else to do the dirty work and you can say goodbye to ever finding your father.”

“You sick son of a-”

“Now, now,” his sadistic grin returns. “I’m the only one who knows where he is. Killing me won’t solve anything. But if you do what I ask, your father can come home and the two of you can go on your merry way. It’s as simple as that. I really would hate to hurt him just because you couldn’t stand to get your hands dirty.”

He leans in close, letting the blade of my knife tickle his throat once again. “So, what’s your choice?”

I can feel my hand shake. I should end this now. Just let my blade jerk forward another inch and end all of this before it can ever begin. But the weight of my father’s pendant seems to drag me down, down, deep into my memories that I’d thought I would never have a chance of experiencing again. If I don’t do this, he really will be gone forever, he… I will never see him again. If killing a few people is all it takes- all it takes? I’m not a murderer, I never have been-

But how true is that? I’ve gotten my hands dirty many times before. They’re dripping with filth. I’ve been running from those choices for years now, what’s a few more to add to the list to never have to worry about it ever again?

My chest feels completely hollow as I finally drop my blade.

“Good,” the stranger’s smile flashes again. “I knew you would agree.”

“I don’t like this,” my voice is flat, choked with a dark determination that scares me more than pulse of heat that fills my hands. “If you do anything to hurt my father-”

“No harm will come to him so long as you fulfill your end of the deal,” the stranger says. “That much is absolutely certain. What happens next is entirely up to you, Ar-”

“My name is Ash. Not… that.”

The stranger’s smile flickers, but quickly returns. “Alright then, Ash,” he says the name almost like it’s a bitter taste in his mouth. I get a little satisfaction from that. “You can call me Fang.”

I would think that was a stupid name choice if I wasn’t choking on the weight of my decision.

“I will be keeping a close eye on you from now on until you complete your little… mission. Which I’m sure you will, but you do have a history of losing control.”

A hot flash of anger bolts through me, but with a sharp breath I manage to force it down. “Shut up and just tell me who these people are and where I can find them.”

He chuckles. “I’m sure you’ve already heard all about them...”


	2. An Unexpected Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash has been sent on her mission, but she finds herself sidetracked by a group of thugs attacking a certain black-clothed individual.

 

            I’ve been walking for a couple of hours now, impeded in large part by the guilt that threatens to overwhelm me with each step toward my destiny.

            My hand finds my father's necklace, now nestled just beneath my shirt, close to my heart. I trace a finger over its shape and let myself think just for a second of the distant but powerful memory of my father's face, of the years I've spent searching for him with little to show for it. I don’t trust Fang, not for a second. But if there's the slightest chance that my father’s still alive… that must be worth something, shouldn’t it? Worth more than the lives of complete strangers? I drop my hands and shove those dark thoughts deep into a corner of my mind, burying them to examine much later. I straighten up and cast my eyes back to the sky. You would think an airship would be much easier to find.

            I walk a little further, the trees beginning to thin a little around me as I approach the next town. Another mile or so and I should be able to stop for food, and maybe ask around for where the ninja were last spotted. With my luck, they’ll be on the other side of the continent. I wonder if Fang ever took that into consideration. It could be another month before I even catch a glimpse of them, much less get close enough to-

            The world pops with a blast of noise that makes me crush my hands against my ears and almost sends me tumbling back into the trees. I just manage to catch my balance as the forest fills with screaming birds, and as I look up through the piercing ring of my eardrums I’m met with the nauseating smell of smoke and _fire_. My stomach churns and suddenly I’m running, fleeing wildly into the forest behind me. Another explosion and I trip over a root. A crow whips past my ear and I almost let out a scream. The stench of smoke surrounds me and brings back dark, horrible memories that make it impossible to think, impossible to breathe, impossible to not be dragged back into-

             My teeth clench tightly enough to hurt as I shove those memories all to the back of my consciousness and focus on the ground in front of me, on getting away, far, far away.

            My breath rattles in my ears as I sprint further into the safety of the densely-packed trees, leaping over roots and bushes until the smell of smoke starts to fade. But only a few minutes later I’m met with the sound of shouting. Aggressive male voices making their way in my direction. I dig my heels into the ground and quickly duck behind a tree, steadying my breath before my wheezing can give me away. I flatten myself against the reassuringly cool bark of the tree and pull two knives from the belt slung around my waist, straining my still throbbing ears to listen for whoever’s joined me in the forest.

            Another shout and a dark shape lurches into view, thrown past my hiding spot before crashing to the ground just ahead. It’s a young man dressed in loose black fighting clothes, not a far cry from what I’m wearing. He reeks of smoke and ash, and as he struggles to get back up I notice the swollen bruise rising on the side of his face, crisscrossed with an even angrier welt that looks like a burn. He tries to sit up, but with a low, pained groan he collapses back to the earth and doesn’t move again.

            I sheath my knives to help him, but I’m interrupted by another pop of shouts from very close nearby. I flatten myself back against the tree just as three men barely old enough for their facial hair lumber into the clearing. I recognize their bright red clothing from a local gang, one known for the not-so-occasional violent outburst. Jerks. They’re probably the ones behind the explosions.

            Their meaty hands each clutch broad wooden bats, and they wear matching, ugly sneers as they approach my hiding spot and the unconscious shape before me. I shuffle further into the shadows as they circle the man on the ground and one of them pokes him with the tip of his bat.

            “Look, our friend’s taking a little nap,” that thug chuckles. The other two cackle right along with him. He gives them a malicious grin. “Maybe we can help him sleep a little deeper. What do you think, boys?”

            The other two nod vigorously, watching with sadistic excitement and even more cackling as their leader slowly lifts his bat over the man's head. I tug my knives from my belt as he starts to bring it down, and before it can smash into the man’s skull I’ve stepped out from behind my tree and sent a knife spiraling toward it. The blade strikes the end of the bat, knocking it out of the thug’s hands and sending it crashing into a nearby bush. He stares comically at his empty hands for a second. He and his friends look shocked and maybe a little scared, but once they get a get a good look at me their faces break back into their characteristic sneers. Jerks.

            "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the thug I just disarmed grins. His eyes flick up and down my legs, and I have to swallow the disgust that crawls up my throat. "Is this your boyfriend, sweetheart?"

            I ignore him and raise my other knife toward them, point aimed at the center of his chest. “Back off or the next one’s going through your ribcage.”

            The three look at my knife, then at one another, and burst out laughing.

            "Sorry, sweetheart, but this isn’t the place where little girls like you can play hero," the thug smirks as he takes a few threatening steps toward me. "Out here, we call the shots."

            "The next thing you'll be calling is an ambulance," I narrow my eyes. "Because unfortunately for you, I don't wait until you're unconscious to beat you bloody."

            I throw my knife fast and it hisses through the air, lodging itself in the sweater of one thug and the next before it thuds into the tree behind them. The thick, heavy blade traps them there together, though not for long. I have a minute, max. Plenty of time.

            "You're playing with fire, girly," the thug growls as he jerks a bat out of the hands of his crony.

            I tug another knife from my belt. “I have plenty of experience with fire, and believe me. You’re not the hotshots you think you are.”

            The thug roars and swings his bat wildly toward my face. I block it with the padded leather on my left arm, jarring my shoulder painfully but ignoring it to toss my knife to the other hand and slice into his clothes. The blade tears a wide whole in the front of his shirt, but I pull back enough to leave just a shallow slice in his bulging stomach. I shove him away from me and the condescending smirk disappears from his face, replaced with a dark rage.

            "Lucky shot," he growls. His friends finally detach themselves from the tree, and one of them throws that knife wildly toward me. It lands in the forest a good foot to my left, and I tug out another knife with a bit of smile quirking my lips. This is comically easy. I throw a knife that slams heavily, hilt-first, into the head of one thug, sending him sprawling. Another bat flies at my head and I deflect it with the heavier blade in my hand before punching that thug in the jaw with my other fist. He stumbles backward, dazed, and I shove him to the ground with a well-placed kick. Just then, the leader grabs me from behind, his thick arms tightening around my throat as he nearly lifts me off the ground.

            “I’m going to make you regret this, princess,” he spits in my ear as my vision swims and he crushes his arms further against my windpipe. “No one messes with us and lives to tell the tale.”

            A chuckle dies in my throat.

            “What are you smiling about?”

            I stab my blade into his leg. He releases me with a scream and crashes backward onto the forest floor, nursing the ugly wound that spills scarlet over his black pants. I gather my breath among the dots that clutter the limits of my vision, and shove the thug’s head back onto the ground with foot to his chest. I hold the point of my bloodied knife to his nose, and hear one of his cronies whimper as I let it rest right up against the flesh between his eyes.

            "Leave now and I'll pretend like none of this ever happened," I command, pressing the point a little further and watching him go cross-eyed trying to follow it. "Walk away, leave me and this man alone, and never-” I punctuate the word with a prick of his flesh- “enter this forest again."

            "Okay, okay!" the thug nods, moving his head as much as he can with my knife where it is. "Never come to these woods again, got it. Just don't kill me, please!"

            I step off him without another word and let him and his cronies get to his feet. One of them moves to pick up his bat, but a glance from me changes his mind. Defeated, the three men stumble off into the woods, their leader trailing drops of blood as he goes. Hopefully, they’ll never return.

            I wipe the blade of my knife on the ground and go to collect the others, ignoring, for now, the unconscious body still lying on the ground nearby.

 


	3. Ash, Ninja. Ninja, Ash.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In helping a stranger, Ash has stumbled into the beginning of her mission. But her targets aren't quite how she expected them to be...

 

            I kneel next to the man at my feet and realize he’s not really a man at all. He’s young, maybe just a little younger than I am, though his size makes him seem older. His face is still round and soft beneath the wounds and fluttering dark hair that cover it, and he moans softly as I check for a pulse, but he doesn’t wake up. I take my hand back and appraise him again.

            I don’t recognize him from the nearby town, and if the thugs were after him he must not be a friend of theirs. Still, that doesn’t tell me much.

            “Who are you?” I ask him. He doesn’t answer. I get to my feet and scan the forest again, my eyes settling on the direction he came from: where the thugs left to, and where the fire started. A sigh falls from my lips, and I have to again swallow dark memories. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

            It’s a struggle moving the unconscious young man (or I guess boy would be more accurate) out of the forest, pulling him up over my shoulder and trying very hard not to damage him more than he already is. A few times he stirs against me, groaning into my ear as I try to shuffle him through a bush or tight space with a careful hand on his chest, but he never opens his eyes. I half wish he’d wake up so he could walk. This kid might be young, but hell if he isn’t heavy. I have to put him down a few times to catch my breath and rub my aching muscles.

            What feels like hours later, we finally emerge from the canopy of trees and into the late afternoon sunlight. I let the boy settle gently against the ground before I stretch my throbbing shoulder and readjust the belt at my waist. He doesn’t wake up.

            I screen my eyes from the sun with an aching hand and finally spot our destination just up ahead: a cluster of buildings huddled together to form a small town. We’ve found ourselves at the end of a trailing cobblestone path out of the forest, and if I squint I can make out moving shapes hustling between buildings, away from one smoldering warehouse that continues to billow smoke into the air. A shiver ices my spine, and I quickly shake it off. I turn back to the boy on the ground.

            “Alright, let’s go see who you belong to.”

            I scoop up the boy again, lacing my hands under his arms to pull him along rather than draping him over my back as I did earlier. My back stretches with relief, but after a few minutes the backpedaling starts to make my calves ache. I grit my teeth. Hopefully someone who knows him shows up before I sprain something.

            As if on cue, I hear a shout: “Hey look, there he is!”

            I look over my shoulder and catch someone dressed in blue waving frantically to two more people behind him. I set the boy back down in the grass as the trio of colorful shapes rush toward us. I turn to face them with a careful hand on my belt, but I don’t draw a blade. Their colors aren’t right for the local gang, and as they approach I notice the relief on their young faces. I take my hand away.

            “Cole!” the one wearing red yells as he gets within earshot, completely ignoring me to drop to the ground next to his friend. I step back to let the others past. “Cole, are you alright?”

            “Is he breathing?” the one in blue asks.

            “Yeah, he’s just asleep, I think.”

            “He was right in the smoke when the fire started, and it looks like they got a few good hits in-”

            “He looks fine otherwise,” the one wearing white says as he brushes his friend’s dark hair out of the way. He lets out a breath of relief. “I think he’ll be okay.”

            Unconscious boy (Cole, I guess) is going to be fine. I take that as my cue to leave, turning instead to the still smoldering town. I had hoped to find information on the ninja’s whereabouts here, but with all the commotion I doubt anyone’s going to want to talk to me-

            “Hey.”

            I turn back and realize the one in red’s spoken to me.

            “Where did you find Cole? Did those guys do anything else to him-?”

            “I got to them before they could,” I answer. “But he’s been asleep for a while. I dragged him here from the woods.”

            “The woods?”

            “Back there. Not too far out.”

            “You fought off the guys who went after him?” Blue asks.

            I nod. “I’m trained in hand-to-hand, and for the most part the gangs out here don’t really know how to fight beyond using brute force. It was nothing.”

            “Nothing? It looks like they got you good, too,” Red says as he stands. My hands trace the forming bruises around my neck.

            “One of them managed to put me in a chokehold,” I explain. “I stabbed him in the leg.”

            Red whistles. “Hardcore.”

            “You have our gratitude for saving our friend,” White says. “Those men were trying to steal pyrotechnics from a local factory and things got a little… out of hand when we tried to stop them.”

            Red nods. “We got separated and Cole here was chased off. We thought something might have happened to him out there, but it looks like we shouldn’t have worried.”

            Blue shouts. “Hey, I think he’s coming to!”

            White and Red hurriedly turn back to their friend.

            “Cole! You okay there, buddy?” Red asks as Cole finally stirs, blinking heavy lids against the sudden brightness of the sun. He groans again and covers his face with an arm.

            “I feel like I got smacked by a ton of bricks,” Cole moans. He tries to sit up, and his friends eagerly support him. “Ugh, what happened?”

            "You were chased off by a group of thieves and it seems they knocked you unconscious," White explains. "Luckily this girl saved you before you were more seriously injured."

            “Girl?” Cole looks up at me for the first time, and I offer what I hope is a friendly smile.

            “Ash. Nice to meet you.”

            “Ash,” he repeats. He clutches his head. “I… I think I remember a little. You helped me not get crushed by some two-bit gang members.”

            I can’t help a small laugh. “That’s the short of it, yeah. But don’t worry about it. I did what anyone else would have done.”

            I cast a glance back to the still-smoldering town. “Now I’m sorry to cut this short, but you need to get to a doctor and I need to go talk to someone.”

            “Talk to who?”

            “I… don’t know,” I say. “Whoever might give me the information I need. I’ve been looking for the ninja who travel around in an airship. You’d think that would be easy to track down, but with my luck they’re halfway across the continent-”

            “You’re looking for the ninja?” White asks. I realize I've been rambling. “Are you in need of help?”

            “You… could say that,” I answer. “Look, I don’t mean to keep you, your friend needs medical attention and I can just head over to the next town-”

            “What do you need help with?”

            I take a breath. “I’m… searching for my father. I was hoping the ninja might be able to help.”

            The lie falls too easily from my lips, and I have to quickly swallow the sudden well-up of guilt deep in my chest. “I got a little sidetracked helping you but that’s fine. I’m not really in a rush.”

            “You’re looking for your father?” Red asks.

            I nod.

            “And you think the ninja could help you find him?”

            “Maybe. He went missing years ago, but another couple of days won’t make a difference. You really should get to a doctor-”

            “Your name’s Ash, right?”

            I nod again. “Yeah.”

            “Well, Ash, today is your lucky day,” Red says as he gets to his feet. “Because you’re looking at the ninja.”

            A second passes. “What?”

            “We’re the ninja,” Blue says with a grin as he tugs on a thick blue hood that only exposes his eyes. “See?”

            White nods. “We were called here to help deal with the local gang. This town has been struggling with them for a while…”

            I don’t hear anything else he says because I’m reeling, struggling to find the ground again as everything swims around me and I’m dragged down, down, down. This is them? The ninja? I’d never seen them before, but I never thought they’d be so young, so _innocent_. I was expecting battle-hardened soldiers, heroes, not _kids_. Fang never said they would be my age, but why would he? If I’d have known I never would have-

            “Hey, are you okay there, Ash?”

            I blink and realize the four of them are looking at me expectantly. I try to breathe. “Yeah, I’m, uh, I’m fine. Just… surprised. I didn’t expect you all to be so… young?”

            “I mean, sure, but we’re totally capable of handling anything anyone throws at us,” Red says with a grin.

            I flat laugh falls from my lips. “You did get pretty clobbered by some second-rate thugs.”

            “That was just Cole.”

            “I’m sitting right here, Kai.”

            “Point is, I’m sure we can help you with your problem,” Red says. Kai, I guess. “That’s why you were looking for us, right?”

            “I guess.”

            “I’m not entirely sure how much assistance we can realistically provide,” White says with a bit of a pointed look at Kai. “But perhaps we could point you in the right direction. Sensei Wu might know where to look.”

            “Good idea, Zane,” Blue says. “Sensei Wu is old and knows practically everything already. He’ll be able to help you out.”

            “Sensei Wu? He’s your master?”

            White, Zane, nods. “He taught us everything we know. If anyone can help you, it would be him.”

            Another person to add to the equation. He wasn’t part of the deal, so maybe Fang won’t- I grit my teeth. This is all so horrible and complicated. How can I sit here and think about what I’m supposed to do when these boys are standing right in front of me-?

            “Does that sound like a good plan?”

            I force myself to nod. “Yeah, that sounds great,” I hope my careful smile doesn’t look too fake. “I really appreciate your help.”

            “Hey, it’s no problem,” Kai grins. “It’s what we do.”

            “What we should be doing now is getting Cole back to the ship,” Zane says. “He’s staring off into space.”

            Cole blinks. “Huh? No, I’m not.”

            “He needs medical attention,” Zane gives his friend a pointed look. “We should head back now.”

            “Right,” Blue nods as he gets to his feet. “And introduce Ashley to Sensei Wu.”

            “My name is Ash,” I say. “Just Ash.”

            “Whoops, sorry about that. I guess all that smoke really got to me-”

            Kai rolls his eyes. “You were nowhere near the explosion, Jay.”

            “Doesn’t mean I’m not affected by smoke inhalation!”

            Kai bites back with another retort and I zone out again, lost in back and forth thoughts of what I should do next. The obvious answer would be to follow along with this new turn of events and figure out a way to complete my mission from here. But still, I’m weighed with almost overwhelming guilt that only grows with each second I’m around these boys. Because that’s what they are, boys. They don’t deserve my lies and my knife in their back. They don’t deserve any of this.

            But if I don’t go through with Fang’s request, my father will die.

            “Ash, you coming?”

            I look up as Kai and Zane help Cole to his feet, balancing him gently between them so he can stand. They look at me expectantly once again, and I force another smile.

            “Yeah. I’m coming.”

           


	4. The Old Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash is introduced to Sensei Wu, who she worries can see right through her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I don't usually post notes, but I thought I would say that I've gotten a solid schedule down to 2 chapters a week (hopefully). I look forward to writing more of this story as the way I'd always hoped to write it, and I hope those of you reading enjoy it. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing!

            “Sensei! We’re back!”

            The ninja’s airship is much bigger than I expected, and even more high-tech. I can hear the soft whirr of some unseen machinations deep within the ship, and I almost ran into a rocket thruster on the way in. The idea of this thing flying through the sky makes me nervous, especially with most of it still being made of wood, but I manage to swallow that anxiety with the even larger pill of guilt I haven’t been able to shake off.

            “Impressive, isn’t it?” Jay, the one wearing blue, says with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “It’s named _Destiny’s Bounty_. Zane found it in the desert a while ago, and since then-”

            “I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear about the ship right now, Jay,” Cole says as he nurses his head with one hand. He seemed to be getting more or less back to his senses on the way over, but his scrunched eyebrows betray the pain still lying below the surface. “I know I’ve heard it a dozen times, and I was there.”

            “It’s a cool story, Cole. Don’t hate.”

            Before Cole can reply, an elderly man appears from the entrance to the belly of the ship. He carries a teapot and cup in each of his wrinkled hands, and as he approaches his incredibly long, white beard grazes his knees. Despite his age, he moves very fluidly, and his eyes are no less piercing. I swallow a shudder as they seem to look right through me.

            “There you are,” he greets the ninja with a gentle, wise voice. “How did your mission go? Did you manage to stop the thieves?”

            Kai nods. “We got most of them, but Cole got chased off. Thankfully Ash here was around to save him.”

            “Not my finest moment,” Cole grimaces before offering a softer smile. “But I still appreciate it.”

            “I already said it was no trouble.”

            My voice sounds tiny as the old man stares me down, stalking a little closer with his penetrating gaze. It’s as if his eyes are searching through my very soul, and it takes all my willpower not to look away. I wonder for a second if he could possibly see past my façade, but that’s impossible. No one can read minds. At least not anyone I’ve ever heard of.  Then again I really don’t know anything about these ninja or their master. Or what I’ve managed to get myself into.

            The old man, Sensei Wu, I guess, stops just short of my preferred bubble of personal space to appraise me even closer. I try not to squirm under his intense gaze.

            “It’s not very often that someone gets the chance to help one of my students out of a perilous situation,” he says with a sip out of the cup in his hand. The smell reminds me of my father’s lavender tea. “Who are you, exactly?”

            My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. “I’m- my name is Ash. I used to live around here until my father disappeared. I’ve been looking for him for years until…”

            I take a deep breath. “Until I decided to ask for help. I’d heard about the ninja and was hoping maybe you could help me find him. I know it’s a lot to ask and you probably have a dozen other missions to prioritize-”

            Kai snorts. “If you count sitting around playing video games as ‘priority missions’.”

            “I know I do!”

             “No one asked you, Jay.”

            “You’re just saying that because I still have the high score-”

            “So you want help finding your missing father,” Sensei Wu says without another glance at his student. Instead, he pours himself more tea. I watch the liquid spill into the cup, and muster my voice again.

            “Yes. I do.”

            “Well, Ash,” he continues. “I’m not sure how much help we could be, especially since we don’t know who your father is.”

            “His name is Desmond,” I say as I tug the necklace from my shirt. “This was his. He disappeared after… after an accident in Arashi village.”

            Sensei Wu casts his gaze on the pendant in my hand, and for a second I think I see a flicker of recognition in his deep-set eyes. But the shake of his head dismisses any hope I had.

            “I’m sorry, but that name isn’t familiar, nor is your necklace.”

            I can’t help my sinking disappointment as I drop the necklace back against my collar. Just for a moment there I thought I might have found another way to do this, to maybe get to my father before Fang managed to do anything to him, but if they don’t even know who he is-

            “Something about you is still familiar.”

            I look up and realize Sensei Wu is still addressing me, his thick white brows now knit together in though. A stab of fear jolts through my heart. Familiar? He couldn’t know-

            He shakes his head again, and I force myself to take a breath. “This is something I will need to spend my time on, but in the meantime” – his gaze fixes on his students. “Cole needs to lie down, and the rest of you need to get back to your training. We cannot always rely on others to save us from dire situations, else we will never be able to stop the darkness rising.”

            “To be fair, Sensei, Cole was the only one to get knocked around like that-”

            The old man turns his piercing gaze to the red ninja, who offers a sheepish grin in return. “Right. Training. Stopping darkness. Got it.”

            “I’ll help Cole to his room,” Zane says as he shifts his friend against his shoulder to better support him. He’s been half-carrying Cole since we left and he hasn’t even broken a sweat. Jay and Kai had traded off once or twice, and even I’d offered to take his place for a while, but he had just smiled a “no” and kept going at his own pace. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he’s inhuman. But the white ninja seems like the type to religiously follow a training regimen.

            “I’ll go see if Nya knows where the first aid kit is,” Kai says as he starts to sidle off. Sensei Wu looks at him again, and he offers another grin. “Then I’ll get back to training. And, uh, whatever else you said.”

            “Oh, uh, that reminds me that, uh, I have to ask Nya something about… the ship,” Jay says as he starts to inch toward Kai. “If that’s okay, Sensei. I’m not trying to avoid tonight’s training or anything-” He laughs nervously and I have to wonder where my mental image of battle-hardened warriors came from. At this rate, killing them would be too easy.

            I almost choke on that morbid thought. One thing at a time, Ash. You still have time to figure all this out.

            “As for you, Ash,” Sensei Wu directs my attention back to him. “I think it would be best if you joined us for a few nights.”

            “What?”

            His eyes meet mine, flashing with something that puts me further on edge. Indescribable. Again, like he can see right through to my very core. “If we are to help you find your father, it might help if you travelled with us for a while. Perhaps we might be able to help you find information in places you haven’t visited yet.”

            “Uh-”

            “We do still have a couple of extra rooms,” Zane offers before I can object. “After I set Cole down, I could help make one up.”

            “Look,” I glance between the expectant gazes. “I really do appreciate your willingness to help, but I don’t want to impose. You already said you didn’t know who my father was, and I’m-”

            “Come on, Ash, what could be the harm in staying with us for a little while to do some extra searching?” Kai says with a friendly smile. “It’s not like you’re going to murder us all in our sleep or something.”

            Uh.

            “Then it is decided,” Sensei Wu says, snapping me harshly back into reality. “Ash, you will stay with us for a few days, at least to see what information we might be able to find in the next few places we visit. If nothing else, we can always return you right back here whenever you feel you’ve done enough.”

            “I…” I suck in a breath. This is the perfect opportunity to get close, to slip in and do what needs to be done so I can see my father again. But the very thought makes me feel filthy, disgusting. What makes me think I can go through with this? Any of this?

            I try to remember what I told myself at the start. I remember my father’s face, and his warm voice whispering lullabies to me as I fell asleep. I remember that he’s out there, right now, trapped in the clutches of some man who’s only asking me to end the lives of complete strangers to help him. Ha, only. As if lives are as trade away as that. I want to leave, to rescind my request and walk away without a single glance back. But doing so would kill my father. I’ll never see him again if I don’t go through with this.

            Maybe I really can ask for help. Tell Sensei Wu everything right now and- and what? Ask him to help me find my father? Fang? What guarantee would I have that we would find them before my father disappears forever? And Fang said he’d be watching me.

            A shiver ices my spine. Could he be watching me now? I struggle to swallow that thought and instead force a very bitter-tasting smile.

            “I really appreciate your offer, Sensei,” I say through clenched teeth and a stiff bow. “And I accept. I will stay here if there’s any chance of finding information on my father.”

            “You are more than welcome, Ash,” Sensei Wu takes another deep drink of aromatic tea as I straighten up. “It is our duty as defenders of the realm to help everyone who comes to us in need. I hope we manage to find something to assist you.”

            “I hope so, too.” The first sincere thing out of my mouth.

            “Now, students,” Sensei Wu turns his sharp gaze back to the ninja. “Didn’t I just tell all of you what you needed to do?”

            “Right, first aid kit,” Kai says before ducking off. Jay glances between his quickly disappearing figure and his master’s piercing stare.

            “Uh, I’m just going to, uh-” Jay hurries off without further explanation.

            “If you would like to follow me, Ash,” Zane says, redirecting my attention to his gentle gaze. “I can show you to proper quarters.”

            “Just avoid the one right next to the engine room,” Cole says with a bit of a wince as he shifts his head. “We tried that once. You’ll never get to sleep with that racket.”

            “Thanks for the advice,” I nod as Sensei Wu starts to wander off, still sipping tea out of his cup as he goes to watch the shifting leaves past the railing.  He doesn’t move from that spot even as I follow Zane and a limping Cole into the belly of the ship, and as I turn my gaze away from him toward the stairs I just catch him pouring one last cup.


	5. Game, Set, Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash has accepted Sensei's offer to stay on the ship while they search for her father, but as she spends more time with the ninja and experiences their skills firsthand, she finds it harder and harder to go through with her mission. But what other choice could she possibly have?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and thanks again for reading! I may be late posting tomorrow as finals are currently destroying my life, but hopefully I can have something up by Wednesday. Remember to leave a comment or kudos to let me know how I'm doing!

            It’s like I never left this hellscape.

            The screams are what cut me to the core, what whip past me in furious, ear-piercing sound as people flee in terror from the unimaginable, scorching heat. Crimson fire roars bright enough to force my eyes shut, but I can’t move. I don’t move. I have to find my father. Even as the flames claw at my very being I can’t force him out of my mind. I have to find him, I have to bring him here, I have to- to what? To what? Fire pops like laughter and I can almost feel my eyelashes starting to burn, hissing through the tears that streak down my face. I just want this to stop. I want it all to be over. I want to find my father and get as far away from here as possible. I just want to-

            “Ash, are you alright?”

            I blink and the dream suddenly vanishes, replaced by a well-lit ceiling and a room that shifts with each movement of the ship. I sit up, my sheets twisting tightly around my legs as I try to disentangle myself from them and make out who’s standing in the doorway. I wipe the grime from my eyes and realize it’s Kai, dressed in his red garb for a morning training session. Or a mission. I’m not sure. His expression is one of concern as he takes me in, and with a swipe at my sweat and tangled hair, I realize I must look pretty haggard. I try to smooth my hair down.

            “Bad dream?” he asks awkwardly, his brows shifting even closer together as I wipe my face with my shirt.

            “I’m fine,” I answer curtly. Not a real response, but hopefully enough to keep him from prying. “Is there something you need?”

            He blinks. “Well, breakfast is ready and we were hoping you’d join us. You can keep sleeping if you’d like.”

            My stomach growls at the thought of food. When was the last time I ate? “Breakfast sounds good, actually,” I try a smile.

            He seems to accept my stiff upturn of lips and mirrors it with a more genuine version. “Cool. I’ll let you get dressed and meet you there. Do you remember where the dining room is?”

            “Zane pointed it out last night,” I say as I swing my legs over the side of the bed, dragging half of my sheets with me. “I think I’ll manage.”

            “Alright then,” Kai awkwardly shuffles back a step. “See you soon, I guess.”

            “Yeah.”

            With that, the red ninja disappears and I let my body fall back against the threadbare mattress. My head is still fogged with exhaustion, but each drowsy blink of my lids brings back flashes of my nightmare. I can still feel the crackle of fire against my skin and hear the screams of a thousand terrified people, and it takes a few deep, practiced breaths to push those thoughts back into the dark corner of my mind. You’d think after so many years all of this would be easier.

            It only takes a couple of minutes to tug on my clothes and pull my hair into a semi-presentable ponytail, and a brief glance in the mirror propped against the wall shows a dark face that looks like it hasn’t seen proper sunlight in days. I practice a smile in the hopes that it will lighten my features, but it only makes me look more stiff and fake. I straighten my knife belt. There’s no way any of this is going to work.

            The sun is already spilling light high in the sky by the time I make my way onto the deck, and with an uncomfortable shift of my stomach I realize the trees around us have been replaced with a thick cover of clouds. The ship rocks lightly with turbulence, and it’s all I can do to keep my footing and not spill my guts over the railing. I try to swallow my discomfort and make my way to the dining room, but it’s hard to ignore the flutter of birds right off the portside.

            I make it to the door, and thankfully the rocking doesn’t feel as intense once I’ve managed to bolt inside. I lie back against the door and try to imagine what it would feel like to be on solid earth again, but I’m interrupted by a pleasant voice.

            “Good morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?”

            I look up from my feet a greet a girl with short black hair and warm brown eyes. Her features are familiar, but I can’t remember from where, and I’m still puzzling it when I realize I haven’t answered her question.

            “Uh, yeah. Pretty well, all things considered.”

            “Good,” she smiles and offers a hand for me to shake. Her palm is soft, but ripe with subtle callouses. I wonder what she does around here. “I’m Nya, Kai’s sister. It’s nice to meet you.”

            That’s it. She and her brother look alike, apart from the hair color at least. “I’m Ash. If you didn’t know.”

            “Hey, Ash!”

            I let go of Nya’s hand and realize the ninja are already assembled around a long table, each in their bright-colored garb and looking like they’ve been awake for a long while. Jay waves at me almost frantically to sit beside him, and I do so slowly. By the time I’ve folded my legs under me, I realize the white ninja is absent.

            “Where’s Zane?” I ask as Nya takes a seat next to her brother.

            “Making breakfast,” Jay says as he picks up his fork.

            “You’re lucky you got here when you did,” Kai says with a friendly grin. “Zane’s the best at cooking.”

            “Don’t try telling him that, though,” Cole says. “He’ll just shrug it off like it’s nothing. Even I can’t make food as well as he does.”

            “You can’t make food at all, Cole.”

            “That was uncalled for, Jay.”

            Zane appears just then, cradling an armful of steaming plates. He hands one to me and I realize it’s an omelet. “I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I hope ham and spinach is okay.”

            “That’s perfect, thank you,” I say sincerely as I set the plate in front of me and take in the rich smell of eggs and perfectly cooked ham. My stomach rumbles accordingly, and I stifle it with a hand. Jay’s plate barely makes it to the table before he’s already shoving it into his mouth, and as I pick up my fork Zane makes his way to his seat, settling in right beside me.

            “Try it,” Kai waves me forward with a fork full of his own omelet. “You’ll love it.”

            I do as he says and carve out a chunk of omelet that steams as I scoop it onto my fork. Just the smell of it is enough to make my stomach growl again, and I quickly silence it with a bite. I feel my eyes go wide.

            Kai chuckles. “Good, isn’t it?”

            I swallow and turn to the boy sitting next to me. “This is incredible. How did you-”

            “It’s just ingredients in a pan. I don’t do anything special with it.”

            “Bull,” Cole says as he shovels bacon onto his fork. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say your elemental power was cooking perfect omelets.”

            “Hear, hear,” Jay nods as he sets down his empty plate.

            Zane just shrugs into his own plate of food, but I can see a soft rose blush color his cheeks as he takes a bite through upturned lips. His gentle smile is contagious, and I have to force it down with another mouthful of omelet.

            “So what are you all up to today?” Nya asks. “You had quite the busy day yesterday with those thugs.”

            “I’ll say,” Cole grumbles into his plate. “My head still hurts.”

            “Sensei said you didn’t have a concussion, so that’s good,” Kai shrugs. “I think it’ll take more than one good hit to rattle that thick skull of yours.”

            Cole chuckles. “Keep talking, Kai. I could be on my deathbed and still beat you at the training course.”

            “Sensei has not left his room since this morning,” Zane says. “If he hasn’t given us a mission by now, I would assume we’re to resume our normal training schedule.”

            Kai clicks his tongue. “Which means what, more pushups?”

            “We haven’t done our weight training yet this week,” Zane says. “If we aren’t careful, we’ll fall behind.”

            Jay groans. “Ugh, but that’s so boring! Can’t we just find some more bad guys to fight instead?”

            Zane frowns slightly. All his expressions are small. If you blinked, you might miss them entirely. “Even if Sensei gave us a mission, I don’t believe Cole is in any state to fight. He needs more rest.”

            “Come on, Zane, we’ve all taken worse hits,” Cole says with a shrug that quickly turns into a subtle wince. “A little more action won’t kill me.”

            “I think it best to err on the side of caution.”

            “Well, none of this means anything because Sensei hasn’t given us a mission,” Kai says. “So either way, we’re stuck. No mission, no leaving the ship, and nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs.”

            “We could always look through the database to see if there’s anything on Ash’s father,” Nya offers, and for a second I can’t remember what she’s talking about. Right. My façade for being here.

            I swallow my thoughts. “I’m not sure there would be anything a computer could find that I haven’t already checked. I’ve done most of the searching myself, and it’s not like I have much more to go from. It’s like Sensei Wu said. There might be nothing to find.”

            “It’s always worth a shot,” Nya says. “But I won’t pressure you. We should be at our next destination by tonight, so hopefully we can start doing real leg work tomorrow.”

            She offers a comforting smile, and all I can manage is a nod in response. “Thanks.”

            “Hey, Ash, why don’t you join us for training?” Kai asks.

            I blink. “What do you mean?”

            “I mean come spar with us or something,” he says. “You said you were trained, right?”

            I nod. “In hand to hand and knives. But I’m not sure how that will help you-”

            “Well, your knives aren’t very different from my shurikens,” Zane says with a gesture to the gleaming gold weapons at his side. “And any fighting style is worth observing for its technique and potential uses.”

            “See? Zane agrees,” Kai says. He offers a warm smile. “It’ll be fun.”

            “If it helps, Jay’s probably easier to take down than that gang yesterday,” Cole says.

            “Hey, you’re the one who got pummeled, dude. Not me.”

            “After I inhaled enough smoke to scar my lungs for the next twenty years, what’s your point?”

            “So what do you say, Ash?” Kai turns my attention back to him. “Just a couple rounds?”

            “With weapons?”

            He shrugs. “Whichever you prefer. Sensei says we need to get used to the weight, but I don’t think that really applies to anyone but me and Cole. Zane’s fit in his pocket.”

            “That is not true. The standard pocket size would not be enough to accommodate my shurikens.”

            “It was an exaggeration.”

            A couple rounds on the training mat? With weapons? My mind flicks through all the ways this could go wrong, all the minor “slips” that could happen that would end in one or all of them-

            I bite my tongue as the omelet threatens to make a reappearance. Just buy time, Ash. Buy time and figure something else out. “Sparring sounds fun, but I’d rather not hurt any of you with my blades.”

            “Sounds good,” Kai says as he gets to his feet. “Come on, we’ll show you where the magic happens.”

            “I’ll take a look at the database and see if I can dig up any information on your father,” Nya says to me as the other ninja follow suit. “There has to be some clue to where he’s gone, right?”

            "Right,” I agree, but my voice is flat as I stand up. My stomach twists again, but it has nothing to do with hunger. “Thanks again for looking.”

            “It’s my pleasure,” Nya smiles as the boys start to file out of the room. “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be in the bridge.”

            I nod at her one last time before I follow her brother out of the room and onto the deck, which has suddenly sprouted with several stations of training equipment. Toward the center, Jay starts kicking open a mat already worn with use. My hands brush against my blades, and I have to bite down another wave of nausea. I chalk it up to the turbulence.

            “Alright, so who’s first?” Kai says as he stands on the center of the mat and stretches out a leg. “How about you and me, Ash?”

            “Perhaps we should establish some rules first,” Zane says. “After all, Ash is new to this.”

            I unclip my knife belt. “It’s fine, I’ve been in plenty of fights before.”

            “Yeah, but Kai fights dirty when he’s losing,” Jay says as he sits cross-legged by the mat.

            “I do not,” Kai frowns. “And who says I’m going to lose?”

            Cole snorts and leans up against a training dummy. “Do you really want us to answer that?”

            "Just avoid the face,” Zane says as he takes my knife belt from me. “We have enough head injuries around here as is.”

            “Was that an insult, Zane?”

            The white ninja blinks. “I meant that in light of Cole’s recent trauma-”

            “That would be a no,” Jay says. “Next time, roll with it, Zane. It’s funnier that way.”

            “I didn’t mean to be funny-”

            I stretch out my arms. “So how are we doing points? Just whoever gets knocked to the mat first?”

            “Sure,” Kai shrugs as he bounces on his feet a little. “Though I do have to warn you. I am a highly-trained warrior and chosen wielder of one of the legendary golden weapons. I’ll try to take it easy on you.”

            I can’t help but smile as I lower myself into a fighting stance, one hand level with my face, the other down to guard my core. “I appreciate the gesture.”

            The red ninja grins and mirrors my movement. “Just say the word, Zane.”

            I don’t move my eyes from Kai as the white ninja takes a deep breath. “Begin.”

            Kai strikes first and fast. He throws his arm out to grab or punch me, I’m not sure which, but I sidestep it. I grasp his forearm and twist it, trying to use his momentum to throw him to the mat but he jerks free. He aims a kick at me that I duck away from, and continues to crowd me with quick paced strikes that become harder and harder for me to avoid. I grit my teeth. These boys are good. Really good.

            Kai grins at me through his fists. “You’re pretty good, Ash.”

            “Thanks,” I grunt back as I avoid a jab at my stomach. “So are you.”

            Kai’s smile widens as he shuffles even closer to me, and I finally find an opening. He aims another punch at me that I throw aside with one arm. He quickly raises his other arm, but I slam a foot directly against his solar plexus before he can close the wide gap in his defense. He reels backwards, straightening up to try and gain his breath from the blow. He coughs a couple of times before I swipe a leg behind his ankles and send him tumbling to the mat. Cole and Jay cheer, and for a second all of my attention is fixed on Kai’s gasping shape. It would be so easy to end this now. To jerk my leg and… and what? Kill him? Here? In front of his friends? My stomach roils at the thought, but at the same time I can’t get Fang’s voice out of my head.  

_If you don’t do this for me, your father is dead._

            Jay jumps to his feet. “That was amazing, Ash!”

            Cole laughs. “‘I’ll take it easy on you’,” he says in his best impression of Kai. “That’s one for the books. What did you say about not losing, Kai?”

            “Shut up,” Kai coughs as he tries to sit up. “Ugh, can I get a hand here?”

            He offers his hand to me. _If you don’t do this for me, your father is dead._ His smile is wobbly. “You really are something else, Ash. Good job.”

 _Your father is dead_.

            I feel my hands clench, and I try to calm the biting pain in my gut. _If you don’t do this for me-_

            “You okay, Ash?”

            I take Kai’s hand and help him to his feet. “Yeah, I’m fine. You really did a number on me too. Your speed is incredible.”

            His smile widens. “You think so?”

            I manage a nod. “You should work on keeping your guard up on the recoil though. You were wide open every time I blocked a shot.”

            “She is very correct, Kai,” Zane nods in agreement. “There were at least four instances where an enemy could have exploited your defense.”

            “Noted,” Kai says, squeezing my hand a little before letting it go. My palm feels hot. “So who’s next? I’d like to see Cole get thrown on the mat.”

            “I would not recommend that,” Zane says. “Cole’s head injury needs time to heal. Engaging in fight, even if it is just sparring, could be damaging.”

            “I hear you, Zane,” Cole rolls his eyes. “Honestly, I’m willing to take any excuse if it means I don’t have to train today.”

            He offers me a smile. “Not to say I don’t look forward to sparring with you. Kai doesn’t have the same experience as the rest of us, so taking him down was kind of a given.”

            “Hey, she said I had incredible speed.”

            “What about you, Zane?” Jay says. “You haven’t sparred with anyone in a while. Why don’t you give it a shot?”

            “I prefer to observe.”

            “Come on, don’t tell me you’re scared,” Jay waggles his eyebrows.

            “Then why don’t you volunteer?”

            “Because it’s fun watching other people get beat up. Not as much fun getting beat up yourself,” he says. “Besides, it’s cool seeing you fight. You’re like a machine.”

            “Go ahead, Zane,” Cole says as he takes my knife belt from the white ninja. “You train harder than the rest of us. Might as well show us what you’ve been working on.”

            Zane takes a deep, yet subtle breath. “Very well.”

            He steps onto the training mat, and bows low to me. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to bow back, and before I can decide he’s already straightened up, his clear blue eyes seeming to pierce my very being. I stifle a shudder. The white ninja has an entirely different aura about him. If Kai’s quick, crowded style is fire, then Zane’s calculating stillness is ice. He lowers himself into a practiced stance.

            “Best of luck to you, Ash.”

            I mirror him, and can’t help but feel I might be biting off more than I can chew. I swallow that thought. “You too.”

            Jay crouches at the edge of the mat, his eyes flicking back and forth excitedly between us before he inhales sharply, shouting: “Go!”

            I brace myself for an instant attack, like Kai, but Zane doesn’t move. So I shift to strike instead, but suddenly he’s slipped to my side and grabbed me. I twist in his grasp as he tries to toss me on my back, and only just manage to duck my head under his arm to unbalance him. I take a shot at his feet but he’s already regained his footing and disentangled himself from me. He retreats to just a couple of feet away from me, his gaze as impenetrable and focused as when we started. My breath is already heaving in my chest, but he doesn’t look worn at all. I wipe my face. I’ll need to pick up the pace if I want to win this. Stay enough steps ahead of him so he can’t plan around my next move.

            Zane’s lips twitch up, and I realize he knows exactly what I’m planning. Hell, he’s probably done this a thousand times with his friends.

            My grip tightens. But he hasn’t done it with me.

            I strike quickly, aiming a punch at Zane’s chest that he easily deflects. I stomp on his foot and try to force him back with a hand, but he’s too balanced. He hits me hard on the shoulder and I stagger back. He hits me again, striking the soft spot between my ribs that stabs with pain before I bite it down and manage to slam a fist into his stomach. Zane doesn’t even flinch. Jay was right. He really does fight like a machine. I feel heat well up in my veins, and I have to force it down with a practiced breath. Getting angry won’t help me, not unless I can focus it and-

            A yell pops from my lips as I block a strike and aim a roundhouse kick at Zane’s exposed side. He grabs my leg in a cold hand, as expected, and I quickly lock my foot against his spine and use the momentum to drive my other knee into his stomach. He reels a little and I grab his head, driving my leg into him again before he grabs that too and tries to shove me off of him. I clench tighter on his head and try and twist him to the mat, but it’s no use. Zane’s much stronger than I am, and well-balanced. It’ll take a serious counterweight to-

            Ash. Come on.

            Zane tries to push me off him again and this time I let him, grasping tight to his shoulders and pulling him right into my fall. We topple, and Zane reaches a frantic arm around my head. With a blink, I realize he’s protecting it. As we hit the mat, my head bumps into his forearm rather than cracking against the ground. He pulls himself up a little.

            “Are you alright?”

            I blink. “Yes?”

            “Good,” he breathes, and I catch the faint wisp of air curling into fog from his lips.

            “You really shouldn’t talk during a fight.”

            “I just wanted to be sure you weren’t hurt.”

            I tighten my legs around his sides and flip our position so I’m on top, my hands too close to the white ninja’s throat. I pull away.

            “No, I’m not hurt.”

            Jay claps. “Ash 2-0!”

            “I don’t know, Jay, I’d call that a tie,” Kai says as I get up and help the white ninja to his feet. “We did say whoever got knocked to the mat first loses.”

            “Yeah, but Zane didn’t call it. So Ash wins.”

            “It’s always important to maintain a level of sportsmanship between sparring partners,” Zane says as he straightens out his sleeves. “Even if it means losing the match.”

            Does he have that attitude about everything? If so, it’ll be all too easy to-

            “You did an excellent job, Ash,” Zane says with another bow in my direction. I try to shake aside my dark thoughts before they can clench down on my stomach. “You really are a worthy adversary.”

            “Thanks.”

            The boys are already setting up the next match (presumably between Jay and Kai if the blue ninja would agree to get on the mat), and I’m again lost in my own consuming thoughts. The more time I spend here, the harder this godforsaken mission is. But I can’t just do what Fang says. I’m not that type of person, I can’t just kill someone-

_If you don’t do this for me, your father is dead._

            “You okay there, Ash?”

            I look up at Kai, who seems concerned. “Did you rattle your head?”

            I swallow my thoughts and instead force a stiff smile. “I’m fine, just tired I think. I haven’t sparred in a long time.”

            “Well, why don’t you take a break?” Cole says. “Come take a seat and enjoy the show. Jay’s almost as unpredictable as Kai is.”

            “Thank you,” Jay says as he stretches his arms over his head.

            “I don’t think that was a compliment,” Kai frowns.

            I nod and sit down next to Cole, not really taking anything in as Fang’s words spin round and round and round in my head. I can’t kill the ninja. I just can’t. But if I don’t, my father…

_If you don’t do this for me, your father is dead._

            I rest my head on my knees and try to focus on the match in front of me, but it’s no use.

            Just what am I supposed to do?


	6. A New (Old?) Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While out with Nya, a person claiming to know Ash strikes up a conversation- forcing her to divulge information about her past that she had hoped to keep secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay- I kind of lost interest in this fic and thought others had as well, but getting kudos has really encouraged me to start writing again. Thanks so much for giving me the inspiration I need to keep going, and hopefully I can make something y'all will enjoy :)

"Hey, Iris? You're Iris, right?"

The crack of wood against tile makes the whole store silent under the screeching between my ears. Nya is by my side in a second, but I hardly notice her as my eyes fix on the friendly, if somewhat confused, person standing next to me.

"Sorry to scare you," the person says - a tall, white-blond boy with grey eyes I swear are almost black. "You just a look a lot like someone I know."

I haven't moved, my fingers still clasped around the phantom puzzle box now lying haphazardly against my feet. Nya looks at me for just a second before stepping between this new person and my frozen form.  Her lips turn up in a careful smile.

"And who are you, exactly?"

The boy blinks. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Hale. I moved to the city a few years ago, but I grew up in Arashi. It's a small village, pretty off the grid. Hardly anyone knows where it is." He looks at me again. "And you look exactly like a girl I knew as a kid- Iris. I haven't seen her since before the fire, but I could swear-"

I finally manage to force air into my lungs. "What do you mean, before the fire?"

"Well, Arashi was all but destroyed a few years ago in some big fire," he says more to Nya than me. "But I wasn't there to see it. I came back at least a week later, and by then no one who survived wanted to talk about it. Last I heard, Iris and her dad had disappeared in the aftermath, and I never saw you-her- again."

Nya's fingertips brush my arm, and when I look at her she gives me a not entirely unaccusatory stare. "Ash? Do you know what he's talking about?"

My palms are shaking with sweat and broiling heat, and only by stuffing them in my pockets am I able to sort my tangled thoughts into a coherent reply. "Yeah, I do."

Hale's eyes light up. "You're Iris?"

Nya looks surprised, too, and I direct my answer to her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. My father and I…" Dark memories press against the boundaries of my mind, and with a careful breath I push them back and try to focus on the still-cheerful music above our heads and the clatter of the overworked cashiers at the counter. "We were separated just after the fire. I didn't know what to do in all the chaos- especially without my dad there to help me, so I just left."

I turn back to Hale. "The fire was horrific. A lot of good people died, and the ones who survived wanted to forget it ever happened. After my dad disappeared, I wanted to start over. So I changed my name and went out to find him in the hopes that maybe, someday, we might be able to go back together. But it's been years, and the girl you remember, Iris-" the name tastes like iron on my tongue- "isn't really me anymore."

Nya offers a sympathetic twitch of her lips, an expression Hale mirrors with light hand against my arm.

"I'm sorry to bring back bad memories. I'm just happy to see that you got out all right," he says. "My aunt used to send me to your place all the time to buy your dad's medicines. All those herbal remedies- I used to think it was just plain magic."

A soft laugh slips from his mouth, and for a second I think I remember him- a gangly kid with blonde hair and a gap-toothed smile whose order I would help wrap in rose-colored paper. A crushed salve to help with his aunt's eczema. My father promised to teach me how to make it someday, but he never got the chance.

Hale looks at me expectantly, and I realize he must have asked a question. I pull my hands from my pockets and wipe them against the outside of my pants. "Sorry, it's just been awhile since I thought about my dad's business. I'm surprised you even remembered it."

"Of course," he says with a flash of teeth that, also, looks familiar. "I used to love seeing your dad work."

His smile fades just a bit. "I'm sorry to hear that he's gone. You said he disappeared after the fire?"

I nod. "I've been looking for him ever since. I've heard rumors here and there about herbalists, men his age, people who passed through after what happened in Arashi, but I've come up empty."

My stomach aches at the thought of the truth, of my father, of knowing exactly where he is and what I need to do to save him. Fang's voice cycles through my head once, twice, a dozen times before I manage to pull my thoughts back to the present, back to the lie I've been carefully protecting since I walked into this mess. My mouth tastes like metal and bile, but I manage to keep my voice steady.

"We're just looking for any information we can get on him now, and Ninjago City seemed like a good place to start. With so many people from so many places- hopefully one of them knows something."

"Hopefully," Hale says. "I'm sorry I can't help, but I'll be sure to let you know if I hear of anything. My door's always open if you ever want to talk or just catch up. If you aren't too busy, of course."

"We do have a few more errands to run today before we can really start searching," Nya says. "So why don't you give us your information and we'll see?"

"That sounds good," Hale's gaze flicks to me. "My apartment is just next to Chen's on Seventh. Big neon lights out front, hard to miss. Feel free to stop by anytime you want."

I nod and manage a, "Thank you."

Hale smiles in return- a flash of white teeth that makes my stomach roll once again. "Well, it's been great talking to you, Iris," he reaches out his hand for me to shake, and I hope he doesn't notice how hot my fingers are. "And, uh-?"

"Nya," she says with a quick handshake of her own. "I'm a friend."

"Right. Nya," he smiles. "I hope we can meet up again soon. Until then, stay safe and let me know if I can help with anything. I might be new in town, but I still have some connections that could help. I'll be sure to ask them about your father."

I return his smile with one I hope isn't too stiff. "Thank you, Hale. We'll see you around."

With that and one final quirk of his lips, Hale turns and leaves the store- without buying anything, I notice. His shape quickly blurs with the crowd outside, and with a blink he's gone. I don't realize how focused I am on his departure until Nya brings me back with a loose breath.

"Well, that was a little weird," she says as she reaches down to pick up the puzzle box I dropped. She puts it back on the shelf. "What a coincidence running into someone from your childhood like that."

"Yeah," I let out a breath of my own, this one to ease the tension making my chest ache. "Look, Nya, I should apologize for not telling you earlier about the fire and my name-"

"Hey, it's okay," she steadies me with a hand on my shoulder, and it's only then that I realize I've been shaking. "No one likes remembering the bad things that have happened, and we didn't need to know. Don't feel bad for keeping it to yourself."

"I just-" I bite my tongue. What am I supposed to say? I just want her to trust me? Now, after all I've done to get myself in the perfect position to end her brother's life? Another wave of nausea hits me, and the face I make is enough to earn another sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"It's okay, Ash. You don't have to explain," she gives me a gentle smile. "Just know that you only have to tell us what you feel comfortable telling us. You don't have to share your entire life story to earn our help."

_But not knowing that story is what's going to get you all killed_ , is what I want to say. _Trusting me is a mistake. Being nice to me is a mistake. Making me feel wanted is a mistake-_

I suck in a breath and return her smile with my own. "Thank you, Nya. I really appreciate it."

She grins. "No problem. And if you want, we can keep this between us girls. You don't need the boys poking around your personal life if that's not what you want, and I'm pretty darn good at keeping secrets."

She gives me a wink, and my heart drops a little lower in my stomach. Somehow, I manage to keep the smile on my face.

"That sounds good. Thank you."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Fang watches the girl finish shopping with her new friend. Even from this distance, he can see the tension in her shoulders, the way her eyes follow the strangers around her, the subtle shake of her hands as she carries bags heavy with groceries. She's practically wasting away before his eyes, and he can't help but remember the way she was before. Strong, calm, heart-achingly kind. It pains him to see her become just a shell of her former self, but he knows it's for the best. All part of the plan. Still, doesn't make it any easier.

His phone rings and he answers on the second tone, his eyes fixed, still, on the girl and her friend now looking through other store windows.

"Any progress?"

"Depends on what you call progress," he answers as the girl peruses winter coats on display. "She still hasn't made a move, and it's been a week now-"

"So accelerate the timeframe. Force her to act. You know what's at stake."

"Yes. I understand."

The call ends and Fang pockets the phone. The girl and her friend are now rounding a corner, heading back to the ship he's been trailing since finding the girl in the woods just days ago. He knows what he's supposed to do, but the knowledge does little more than make him feel empty- a feeling he hasn't been able to shake since before this whole damn thing started.

He pushes himself to his feet and starts to follow them once again.


	7. Shades of Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash is awakened by a terrible nightmare and receives help from someone who understands, if only a little, what she's going through.

               Breathing is impossible. My lungs swell with smoke and ash and it’s all I can do to keep my eyes open while I look for a way out- a way through the mass of bodies that shove past me in screaming terror. Flames like towering walls engulf the world around me, and despite the unspeakable heat my legs are frozen and my blood is cold with fear and a desperate need for air. I stumble forward and the flames grab my arms, searing the skin red as each tendril of fire tries to pull me back into its sweltering embrace. I can feel myself sobbing, but my tears turn to steam before they can touch my face. Every attempt to open my mouth melts my tongue against my teeth. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t breathe, I can’t move, I can’t think through the pain and the heat and the screams of the burning all around me-

               “ _Iris!_ ”

               A single voice pierces the air. It’s my father, reaching out to me from beyond the flames, eyes wide as he tries to grab me despite the fire that keeps us apart. He yells for me again and I can only just force myself to answer.

               “Dad!” I scream in a voice so cracked by flame it’s nearly indecipherable. I reach for him but the fire pulls me back, holding tight to my body even as I struggle against it. “Dad, help me!”

               My father reaches toward me again but suddenly the fire explodes- erupting in a blast of color and sound that vanishes him like he was never there. I scream and I cry and I reach for where he was but he’s gone and the fire has consumed me. It tugs at my face and pulls me deep into it, and it’s all I can do not to just close my eyes and let myself go-

               “Ash, wake up!”

               My eyes fly open and the shape hovering over me isn’t my father.  I scuttle away from it, flattening myself against the wall behind my bed before reality clicks back into place. It’s Kai, freshly groomed and ready for the day- though his face is dark with a concerned frown that I have not seen before. He approaches me carefully, hands up to show he’s unarmed, and talks in a gentle voice.

               “You okay there? I heard you yelling and came to check on you.”

               My pulse is racing and I’m having still having trouble breathing, but I force a gulp of air down my throat and try my best to show a face of calm. “Yeah, fine, just a bad dream, it happens sometimes-”

               My stomach twists and suddenly I’m vomiting over the side of the bed. Kai says something I don’t hear, and the next thing I know he’s brought a bucket to catch my mess. He sits carefully beside me on the bed and with his other hand offers me a box of tissues. I take one to wipe my mouth, and try to ignore the stench of bile that’s taken over the room.

               “Sorry about that,” I say as I scrub my tongue with a piece of tissue. “I’ll clean it up-”

               “Don’t worry about that. What’s going on?” he sets the bucket to one side. “Most people don’t puke when they wake up.”

               “Yeah, no kidding,” I take a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m still shaken up.”

               “Was it a nightmare?” Kai turns his eyes on me, and for a second I’m blindsided by the genuine concern in his gaze for someone he barely knows. I shake it aside with another deep breath and try to clear my head. It’s hard to do with the growing smell.

               “Yeah, but I’m used to it. It happens from time to time,” I say, eyes fixed on the floor to avoid that soft, caring gaze. “Waking up is the hard part.”

               “Do you want to talk about it?”

               I shake my head. “It’s fine, really. I appreciate your help, but this is something I’m learning to figure out for myself. I’m sorry.”

               “Hey, don’t apologize,” Kai gives me a gentle pat on the shoulder that makes my skin crawl. “I’ve seen enough to know you can handle yourself anytime. Just know I’m here if you need anything. We all are.”

               He sighs, and when I look up at him his gaze is locked on some far-off point. “I know what it’s like to miss your dad. It really gets to you after a while if you don’t face it. The waiting for him to come home, knowing it won’t happen. Wishing for things to go back to normal but having to understand that this is the new normal.”

               Kai lets his head drop to his chest. “It’s really hard.”

               Before I can stop them, the words are falling out of my mouth. “Did something happen to your dad, too?”

               “Both of my parents,” Kai says, but he doesn’t elaborate. I don’t ask him to.

               “I’m sorry,” I say, but the words feel flat and ineffective. Like apologizing for the weather after it’s already rained.

                “I don’t know what Nya and I would’ve done if Sensei Wu hadn’t come for us when he did,” Kai continues. “Since I joined the team I haven’t thought of my parents as often. At least, I haven’t felt bad about it.”

               He turns his gaze back on me, and for a second something clicks. “I think you should talk to him if no one else.”

               “I want to,” the words start spilling from my mouth again, and I can feel my eyes fill with tears as I hold the truth back so tightly it hurts my chest. “I want to so badly. I just… I can’t. I wish I could, but I can’t.”

               “You’re embarrassed, I get it,” Kai says as every nerve in my body begs me to tell him the truth, to come clean now and ask for help and stop this charade while I can. But my jaw is clenched so tight I can’t get my mouth to open. I can’t talk or move, even if I wanted to, even if I thought it would make a difference. “But I think it could really help, Ash, if you’re willing to try.”

               “Trying” will get my father killed.

               I force a breath and wipe the tears from my eyes. “Thank you, Kai. I’ll think about it.”

               He doesn’t look convinced, and for a second it seems like he’s going to push the issue. But instead, he gives me a gentle quirk of a smile and another pat on the back. “No problem, Ash. Just trying to help the way we ninja do.”

               A short rap on the door makes me jump, and Kai stands to greet Cole, who wrinkles his nose just inside the room.

               “Everything alright in here?”  
               “As alright as it always is,” Kai says. “Ash here just, uh…”

               “Got sick. Motion sick,” I say as I disentangle myself from my bedsheets and try to put on my most casual demeanor. I get to my feet and ignore the stagnant pool an inch from my heels. “I’ve never been good with heights, and the rocking doesn’t help. Kai heard me and offered to help clean up.”

               “That’s right,” Kai nods. “I was on my way to grab a mop now.”

               Cole raises an eyebrow and gives Kai a scrutinizing look. I feel my heart rate pick up.

               “And since when do you volunteer to clean?”

               I have to bite back a sigh of relief as Kai rolls his eyes. “I clean _sometimes_ , just not often. Besides, Zane loves cleaning.”

               “Zane only cleans because you don’t,” Cole says. “He’s just too polite to say anything to you.”

               “Like you’re one to talk,” Kai narrows his eyes. “I don’t see you volunteering to sweep the ship every night.”

               “That’s because it’s not my job on the chore wheel, it’s yours,” Cole says back. He shakes his head. “I’m not going to argue with you about this again. Just grab the mop and get upstairs for sunrise exercise. Sensei wants us to run the course before breakfast.”

               Kai grumbles something under his breath before leaving, chancing a quick glance and thumbs up at me behind Cole’s back before he disappears down the hallway. Presumably, to bring a mop. Cole watches him go, then turns to me with a careful gaze.

               “You doing okay, Ash?”

               I nod. “Just motion sick. I promise it’s not contagious.”

               He chuckles, but his expression doesn’t change much. “That’s not what I’m worried about. You’ve been a little off the past couple of days, and I just wanted to make sure you’re doing alright. Just because we haven’t found any information on your father yet doesn’t mean we won’t soon.”

               “I know,” I say. “It’s just the travel that’s messing with my head. I’m sure it’ll settle down soon.”

               Cole still looks dubious, but he seems to accept my answer as he pulls something from his sleeve and holds it out to me. “I came by to give you this. We didn’t know who would send you mail here, but Nya said you have friends who know you’re travelling with us, so we assumed it was okay.”

               I take the envelope from him and turn it over in my hands. A letter from “friends”? Nya mustn’t have told them about the boy we met in the shopping district, and for a second I’m grateful. But as I examine the letter, I feel dread creep into my bones. Fine, black text peeks through the not-quite-opaque surface of the envelope, too murky to make out without opening it, but legible enough to tell it’s from no one familiar. I look for an address, but there’s nothing written on the front besides my name and that of the ship. Postage is just a small red square available by the bucket at any post store, and the sender didn’t leave an address. A chill grips my spine.

               “Everything okay?”

               I blink and realize Cole has been waiting for me to say something. I swallow the lump in my throat and give him a careful smile. “Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve received any mail.”

               “I just hope it isn’t spam,” he says. “Mailman has enough trouble delivering legitimate stuff to us as is. I’d hate for your first piece of mail to be a lousy brochure.”

               “Yeah, right,” I fake a laugh that’s so bad, Cole gives me another appraising look. I suck in a breath. “Sorry, I’m still feeling a little woozy from the motion sickness. I might sit for a while before joining all of you upstairs.”

               Cole doesn’t seem convinced, but he thankfully nods and takes a step back toward the hallway. “Alright. Just yell if you need anything. Breakfast is at 8:00 sharp, but it’s Jay’s day so it’ll be closer to 8:30. Join us when you’re ready.”  
               “I will, thank you.”

               With one last look, Cole, too, disappears down the hallway, leaving me alone with the growing weight of the envelope in my hands and the pounding in my ears.

 


	8. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious letter drives Ash to look for help in unfamiliar places, and face the truth of Fang's blackmail.

“I appreciate you stopping by, but I still don’t understand why.”  
    I accept the warm mug of tea Hale offers me before he perches on the silver chair opposite mine. He leans forward on his elbows, as if ready to leap away at any moment, and I can’t blame him for being unrelaxed. I would be equally flighty if someone I haven’t seen in years suddenly dropped by unannounced. He looks at me expectantly, and it takes a couple of seconds to realize I haven’t answered his question.  
    “I need your help,” I say as a stray hand picks at the thing burning a hole in the pocket of my jacket. Hale’s eyes follow the movement, and don’t look away even as he speaks again.  
    “Isn’t that what the ninja are for? I just don’t know what I could possibly help with that they couldn’t.”  
    Hale watches as I place my untouched tea on the table between us and pull the half-creased envelope from my pocket. I smooth it on the table’s surface, name-side up, and try to quell the shaking of my fingers.  
    “This came for me this morning and I thought you might be able to help me figure out who might have sent it,” I say. Hale reaches for the envelope, and I almost want to smack his hand away, but I stop myself to let him examine it.  
    Hale’s face creases as he reads my name on the envelope, and peeks at the torn edge for a sign of the contents. Those are still in my pocket. “What’s wrong with it?”  
    “It’s addressed to me at the Destiny’s Bounty,” I say. “I’ve hardly been with the ninja a week and this letter took at least four days to reach the ship. How could someone send me mail at a place I’ve only been a couple of days?”  
    Hale gives me a quizzical look as he puts the envelope back on the table and goes back to cradling his own mug of steaming tea. He stirs the teabag absent-mindedly. “You said you were looking for information about your father, right? Wouldn’t the ninja have put out a way to contact you when they took on your mission? Maybe someone’s trying to get in touch.”  
    I shake my head. “Whoever sent me this knew me from before.  The letter inside called me by my original name. Iris. The only people who know me by that name are the people from Arashi.”  
    Hale’s grip tightens on his mug as he stares at the envelope again. “Someone from Arashi sent you a letter?”  
    “Yes,” I say, my hand ghosting over the paper still folded in my pocket. “And it wasn’t kind. I need to find out who sent it, and how they knew where I was.”  
    Hale looks back up at me. “And you think I can help with this?”  
    “You are the only person from Arashi I’ve seen since the fire. You also saw me at the store the other day and knew I was with the ninja,” I can feel my voice starting to climb out of control, and I force myself to take a breath and speak slowly. “I’m not blaming you for anything, Hale, I just want to know if you told anyone. If there’s someone from Arashi living with you or if you called home and let slip where I was.”  
    “Let slip?” Hale echoes. He puts his mug on the table inches from mine. “Is it a secret?”  
    “Yes!” I force a breath. “No. I-I don’t know. I just need to know who sent this letter to me and where they are.”  
    “Why? Did they say something about your father?”  
    “Just answer the question!” I feel my hands grow hot and I stuff them in my pockets, feeling the letter get crushed under my knuckles as I try to keep my heart from bursting right out of my chest. Next thing I know, Hale is crouched next to me, his back to the table and a calm hand on my knee.  
    “Ash, what exactly is going on? Are you in trouble?”  
    My hand closes around the letter in my pocket, and with almost a will of its own it pulls the paper free to show to Hale. His eyes widen as he takes in the crushed paper with half-smeared ink scrawled over it, and as I watch he slowly takes it from my hand.  
    “What is this?”  
    “It came for me in the mail,” I answer through numb lips and a quickly vanishing determination to keep this all a secret. It’s like the gates have opened and I can’t stop the flood of truth coming from my mouth. “I’m being blackmailed.”  
    Hale’s hand tightens on my leg. “Blackmailed?”  
    “Yes,” I nod. “By someone who knows who I am and wants the ninja dead.”  
    Hale sits back on his heels and opens the letter, quickly scanning it with his grey eyes that grow more clouded as he reads. “Dear Iris.”  
    I shudder at the sound of my name.  
    “You have taken long enough to complete your mission, and my patience grows thin. You have two days to kill the ninja before I kill your father. Hesitate any longer and you will never see him again.”  
    Hale looks up at me, his thumb rubbing against my knee in an effort to stop my shaking. “Your father? He’s alive?”  
    “For now,” I say as I take the letter back and shove it into my pocket. “But if I don’t do what Fang says my father will be gone forever.”  
    “Fang?”  
    “The man who sent me that,” I drop my gaze. “The man who told me to kill the ninja in exchange for my father. The man who knows what I did three years ago.”  
“In Arashi?” Hale asks, but he shakes his head before I can answer and pulls his hand  
from my knee. “I don’t know what to say.”  
    “I don’t know what to do,” I slump back in my chair, suddenly overwhelmed with an exhaustion that goes far beyond lack of sleep and rigorous training. If I could, I would close my eyes and drift forever. “No one knows where my father is, and even if they did there’s no guarantee I would get to him in time. But if I do nothing-”  
    “He will die anyway,” Hale rests his face on a hand. “That’s an impossible decision for you to make.”  
    “Which is why I can’t make it,” I drop my head over the back of the chair, fixing my gaze on a light in the ceiling that fills my vision with stars. “Which is why I came here. Hale, you’re my last chance of figuring out who sent this letter. If I can find Fang, just maybe I can find my father.”  
    Hale is quiet for a long while, the silence broken only by the sound of traffic outside and the clatter of the nearby restaurant kitchen. When I look up at him again, his eyes are distant. “I’m sorry you have to deal with all of this, Ash,” he says softly. “You of all people don’t deserve this.”  
    A flat laugh falls from my lips. “Then you really don’t know me at all.”  
    He glances at me, confused, but doesn’t press for details. Instead, he stands and makes his way back to his seat. “I want to help you, I really do,” he says as he sits, fidgeting again with the teabag soaking in his long-forgotten mug of tea. “I just don’t know that I can. I haven’t spoken to anyone from Arashi in years. At least none that I knew.”  
    Hale sits back. “But plenty of people left after the fire, and it’s possible one of them tracked you down and has been following you ever since. I can’t think of anyone who would hold a grudge that long, but then again tragedy can really change a person.”  
    “Right,” my hand closes around the letter again.  
    Hale is quiet again, and when he speaks his voice is almost too gentle to be directed at an adult. “Ash, I think you should tell the ninja about this.”  
    My stomach rolls. “I can’t.”  
    “They can help much better than I can, and they can keep you safe,” he presses. “They must deal with this sort of thing all the time.”  
    “Strangers showing up to kill them?” I laugh brokenly again, making Hale flinch. “You don’t understand, Hale. Fang knows who I am and where I am. He is completely in control. The second I ask for help the ninja, their Sensei, and my father are all dead. If I can’t figure out who Fang is before it’s too late, then I have no choice but to give him what he wants.”  
    I stand up, almost knocking the mugs off the table. “I need to go. I only have two days to save my father, and I can’t waste time chasing leads. I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Hale, I hope you can forgive me.”  
    “Ash,” Hale also stands, eyes wide as he reaches a hand to prevent me from leaving, but thinks better of it and lets it drop back to his side. “I want to help you.”  
“I know,” I drop my gaze to the floor. “But this was my last chance to find another solution. If I can’t find Fang, I can’t find my father. I’m running out of options.”  
     “I can put some feelers out,” Hale says. “Call some old Arashi friends, see if they know anything-”  
“There isn’t time,” I shake my head. “Whoever it is has probably left the city by now. I only came back to see you.”  
I crush my hand around the letter. “There’s only one solution left.”  
    Hale’s eyes widen. “Ash, you can’t… that’s madness.”  
    “I don’t have another choice,” I turn sharply toward the door to hide my watering eyes. Another look at Hale and I’ll never have the strength to leave. “And if I’m lucky, they’ll be strong enough to stop me.”  
    Heat floods my hands, and bile rises in my throat as I reach for the handle. “Because that’s what Fang really wants. He doesn’t want my father, or the ninja dead. He wants to see me fail.”  
    “Ash-”  
    I tug open the door, and the crash of dishes and conversation almost drowns out my last words as I step out into the hall. “It’s time I’m punished for what I’ve done.”


End file.
